By Uji Abdullahi Iliyasu
Abuja
The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC), Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim, has lauded Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for its support for the scheme, which led to the safe re-opening of orientation camps after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The NYSC boss gave this commendation Wednesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the NCDC Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa in his office in Abuja.
General Ibrahim said the RDT kits , freely made available to prospective corps members was one of the best methods of detecting and reducing the spread of COVID-19.
“We are grateful for the RDT test you provided for us; and I want to assure you of our commitment to this collaboration. On behalf of the Management, Staff and Corps Members nationwide, please accept our appreciation for all you have been doing for us”, Ibrahim said.
The DG disclosed that the scheme has been providing free health services to the indigent rural populace through a programme known as Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD).
He further said the free medical programme assists government in tracking the prevalence of diseases in a particular area, in order to m take adequate preventive measures.
In his remarks, Dr Adetifa commended the NYSC/NCDC collaboration, describing it as a good template and remarkable achievement for the country.
“Kudos to NYSC and NCDC teams for the excellent work,” Adetifa said.
In her presentation, the NCDC/NYSC team leader, Dr Ladun Okunromade, listed the measures adopted before the re-opening to include effective guidelines on NYSC orientation activities; webinar interaction with prospective corps members on COVID-19 preventive measures; formation of COVID-19 vanguards within the camp environment; formation of surveillance teams among corps members; mandatory RDT screening for all camp participants, among others.
“Since the commencement of the NYSC Project in 2020, the Orientation Course has been going on without any interruption. So far, we have completed nineteen streams and we have reduced the number of Corps Members per batch and per camp.
“We used NYSC to validate the RDT, and it was used generally across the country,” Okunromade said.
She went on to state that the measures adopted for safe re-opening of orientation camps anchored on social distancing inside the hostels, lecture halls and other strategic places in the orientation camps.
She said since the reopening of orientation camps, the NCDC Teams have screened about five hundred thousand corps members with no single fatality.
Okunromade added that the guidelines were reviewed, based on global best practices as a result of new variants, and that saw the incorporation of COVID-19 vaccination for all prospective corps members.